Summary of NIH Guidelines On Asthma
NIH - sponsored Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management
of Asthma were recently updated (initial publication was in
1991), and a draft was presented at the 1997 Annual Meeting of
the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology. Comprised
of Allergy / Immunologists, Pulmonologists, Primary Care physicians,
and various research scientists, the Expert Panel II reiterated
important issues and presented new recommendations. Some of the
major points are summarized below:
- Specific recommendations about the use of salmeterol (Serevent™)
were offered.
- not to be used for acute symptoms or started during exacerbations.
- dosage not to exceed 4 puffs / day
- salmeterol should used in conjunction with low or mid dose
inhaled steroids
- salmeterol can be added in a poorly controlled patient instead
of increasing the dose of the inhaled steroid
- patients should be specifically instructed to not self D/C
the inhaled steroid even though they may have improved symptomatically
- The "jury is still out" on whether inhaled steroids
have a detrimental effect on growth in children. A few
studies have shown grow delay, while others have not shown any
significant effects on growth. The general feeling is that poorly
controlled asthma likely has a greater deleterious effect on growth
than inhaled steroids. They state that further study is needed
in this regard.
- There is now a specific recommendation for Flu vaccination
in persistent asthmatics. Pneumovax is not specifically recommended.
- They recommend awareness of coexisting and contributing factors
to asthma such as chronic sinusitis, rhinitis, and gastroesophageal
reflux disease.
- RAST or allergen skin testing to common allergens (e.g.,
dust mite, cockroach, animal danders, aspergillus) is now specifically
recommended for those with persistent asthma.
- The classification scheme for asthma severity was changed.
"Mild asthma" has been broken down into "mild intermittent"
and "mild persistent asthma," with mild intermittent
having symptoms < 2 times/week. This has therapeutic implications
in that they recommend that mild persistent asthmatics
receive some maintenance therapy with some type of anti-inflammatory
medication (i.e., inhaled steroids, nedocromil, cromolyn, or one
of the new Leukotriene modifiers [Accolate™, Zyflow™]).
- Although clearly effective in some patients, they state that
the role of Leukotriene modifiers in the asthma armamentarium
is yet to be clearly defined.
- The Expert Panel II summarized recent research concerning
the sub-basement membrane fibrosis in the lung that accompanies
even mild disease. These changes, left unaddressed over many years,
may possibly contribute to irreversible airflow limitation. The
implication is that future recommendations might include more
aggressive anti-inflammatory therapy for even the mildest asthmatics.
We hope this summary will be helpful to you. Please do not hesitate
to call us if you have any questions or need help in obtaining
a copy of the guidelines. You can also find the guidelines at
the
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute section of the
NIH (National Institutes of Health)
web site.
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